Marisa Chenery was always a lover of books, but after reading her first historical romance novel she found herself hooked. Having inherited a love for the written word, she soon started writing her own novels.

She now writes young adult books and erotic romances.

Marisa lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband, four children, four grandchildren (she’s a young grandma at fifty) and five rabbits.

After four years of banishment from his cougar shifter family group, Taylor finds himself called home to take his rightful place. On the trip to Anchorage, he runs into some unexpected trouble with long legs and a body to die for. Suddenly, the long drive doesn't seem so bad.

Abandoned at a truck stop diner by her now ex-friend, Aspen seeks the help of an unwitting hottie when a trucker makes unwanted advances. Good thing the hunk is willing to act as her boyfriend. And to plant a panty-melting kiss on her lips to drive the point home. As things heat up between them, she's determined to see how far they can take the attraction.

Having taken on the responsibility of heir apparent, Taylor settles into his family group. Though dating a human is frowned upon, Taylor refuses to lose Aspen. The pleasure he finds in her arms isn't something he's willing to turn his back on.

Excerpt

“Are you needing some help?”

Aspen looked in the direction of one of the semis parked off to the side. A man who looked about ten years older than her stood at the back of it, smiling. It wasn’t exactly a friendly smile. More like one that said she was a morsel he’d like to eat. Considering he had a pot belly and needed suspenders to keep up his pants, she wasn’t flattered, by any means.

She did her best not to make eye contact and shook her head. “I’m good.”

“Are you sure? I couldn’t help noticing the girl you arrived with just left you. From the way she was driving, I’d say she ain’t coming back.”

“I’m perfectly okay. Thanks for asking.”

Aspen turned in the direction of the diner again and started walking. She heard the sound of the man’s footsteps a short distance behind her, but forced herself not to look over her shoulder. She didn’t want to encourage him.

She’d made it almost across the lot to the diner’s entrance when the man closed the distance between them. “I think you’re not being truthful,” he said behind her.

She spun around, not liking how near he was to her. There was no mistaking the look of lust in his eyes. Aspen tried not to gag when he eyed her up and down and licked his fleshy lips.

“How would you know that?”

“Well, I heard the argument you had with your friend as she got your suitcase out of the trunk of her car. You both had your voices raised. If you want, I can drive you in my semi.” He looked her up and down again. “I wouldn’t mind the company.”

She and Cindy had been having a heated conversation as her friend had kicked her out of her car, but there was no way Aspen was going to let this idiot know she was stranded. He more than gave her the creeps.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Despite what you thought you heard, I’m meeting my boyfriend here.” Aspen looked around the parking lot until her gaze landed on a black pickup truck parked off on its own. “He’s already here. He must be in the diner. I’ll wait for him at his pickup.”

Aspen turned in the direction of the truck and hoped like hell it wasn’t a woman who owned it. To her, the pickup looked as if it belonged to a guy, and that it was used as a working vehicle.

The man followed her. “Why aren’t you going into the diner to meet him then?”

“I told him I’d be at his pickup when I arrived. Since I’m on time, he should be out in a minute or so.”

At the passenger side of the truck, the man reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. “Come on, admit you’re alone. There’s no one waiting for you.”

Aspen tried to break free of his hold, but he held her too tight. “Let go of me,” she said in a loud voice, fear slowly rising to the surface.

“What the hell is going on here?”

She looked to her right. A drop-dead-gorgeous man was a short distance away, walking toward them. Aspen sent up a silent prayer that the hunk would play along before she said, “Hi, honey. I told you I wouldn’t be late.” She looked at the man holding her arm. “There’s my boyfriend now.”

She yanked out of the man’s grasp and quickly walked to the hunk. Once she stood in front of him, Aspen went on her tiptoes and kissed him. She only thought to give him a quick peck on the mouth, but it turned into a lot more than that when the man put his arms around her waist and tugged Aspen against his chest. He proceeded to kiss her thoroughly, his tongue pushing between her lips and exploring her mouth.

It only lasted all of five seconds, but it was enough to have a jolt of desire shooting through her. Once the hunk ended the kiss, she could only stare at him as her heart beat rapidly against her ribs.

“Babe, tell me what’s going on here,” the man said in a deep voice that made her toes curl.

It took Aspen a few seconds to get her brain functioning enough to understand what he’d asked. “He thought I lied when I said I was meeting you here. He saw Cindy drop me off and figured she’d left me here against my will.”

The hunk took her suitcase and put his free arm around her shoulders, turning her so she was tucked against his side. His body was hard with muscles.

“You were harassing my girlfriend?” he asked the man.

Reviews

4 Hearts: I enjoyed this sweet romance. We meet Taylor in another series by this author and I was glad to see that he gets his story told. It was nice to see Taylor and Aspen’s relationship take form. The two have an instant attraction which turns into so much more as their story goes on. I also enjoyed meeting Taylor’s family and I hope that we get to see more of them in the future.--Gabrielle, The Romance Studio

4 Stars: As usual, I got so caught up in Ms. Chenery’s stories that if there were any editing errors or point-of-view violations, I didn’t catch them. One thing I really liked about Taylor is that once he made up his mind about Aspen there was no swaying him. The attraction between the two of them was exhilarating and I found myself envying Aspen. Who wouldn’t envy a girl with a sexy hot cougar shifter chasing her around? As always, Ms. Chenery has penned a sexy and exciting tale that kept me glued to the pages, eager to see what happened next. This was only book one in her cougar series; I look forward to reading what she comes up with next.--Verbena, Long and Short Reviews